What might breast enhancement in 2018 look like when we look back? We’re at the halfway point of the year, which seems like a good time to take a pause and look at where we are in the year. Breast enhancement is incredibly popular, but which breast enhancements are trending and what’s going to remain popular? We might be able to glean some pretty surprising information from looking at what breast enhancement in 2018 looks like.
Where Breast Enhancement Stands Today
Breast enhancement in 2018 is shaping up to be an important topic, much like it was in 2017. That’s because breast enhancement procedures are, generally speaking, quite popular. They aren’t alone in that. There are many broad categories of plastic surgery procedures that are commonly popular every year (body contouring, facial rejuvenation, etc).
In 2017, however, breast augmentation was the single most popular aesthetic plastic surgery procedure in the nation. And breast lift and breast reduction weren’t too far behind. That’s not to say that breast enhancement was somehow more popular than body contouring–simply that this set of procedures was quite popular in 2017.
And that’s what we’re expecting in the next year as well. That breast enhancement in 2018 will be popular is not surprising. But that doesn’t mean there might not be some ways that this set of procedures surprises us.
Breast Augmentation in 2018
What might breast augmentation in the year 2018 look like when we look back? In all likelihood, it will look a lot like it does now. We’re about halfway through the year, and we’ve definitely learned a bit about what patients seem to want out of this procedure.
- Patients are opting for breast implants that are smaller and more modest
- The popularity of fat graft breast augmentation has never been higher, but it doesn’t seem to be growing at quite the rate it once was
- The popularity of breast augmentation, generally speaking, seems to be increasing
- Patients are really interested in results that look and feel as natural as possible
Some recent advances in technology have made modern breast implants quite natural looking once they are inserted. These implants, often referred to as “gummy bear implants,” offer all of the safety of silicone implants but look and feel slightly more pliable. These gummy bear implants are amazingly popular, and we expect they’ll continue that run for at least the next six months and then into 2019.
Styles and tastes when it comes to breast augmentation might be changing. That breast augmentation can offer such varied results is a testament to the procedure itself. We have no doubt it will be popular for the rest of 2018 and into 2019.
Breast Lift and Breast Reduction in 2018
Both breast lift and breast reduction procedures have maintained a considerable amount of popularity over the years. A breast reduction is designed to eliminate excess skin from around the breast. While a breast lift is intended to change the orientation of the breast. The two procedures are not always performed together, but they often are.
Indeed, a breast lift is also often performed concurrently with a breast augmentation. Many patients benefit from the improvement in orientation, which creates a more youthful looking silhouette.
To be fair, breast lift and breast reduction probably shouldn’t be put in the same category. But we don’t have enough space here to really explore each one in depth. But we can break it down by motivation:
Motivations for Breast Lift Procedures
- The patient wants to look and feel more youthful
- Patient wants to address the orientation of the breasts
- In many cases, the patient will also want to address the orientation of the nipple
- In general, patients want to address the sag of the breast tissue
Motivations for a Breast Reduction
- Patients are looking to remove volume from the breasts, usually in the form of excess skin
- This excess volume often causes headaches, back aches, or other chronic muscle pain
- A breast reduction can also help patients look and feel much more youthful
Because both breast lift and breast reductions tend to deal with issues that develop as we age, it’s likely that their popularity in 2018, to 2019 and beyond, will continue unabated.
Breast Explant Surgery
One of the newer breast enhancement procedures on the market today is known simply as breast explant procedures. As explained on the website of the Houston breast explant surgeon Dr. Charles Polsen, this procedure effectively removes a breast implant and returns the breasts to roughly their previous natural size.
Breast explant procedures have always been an option, but they’ve increased in relative popularity in the last couple of years. In part, that’s because patients tend to love the results from a breast augmentation–but they sometimes don’t want those results to last indefinitely. Because of that, it seems likely that breast explant surgery in 2018 and 2019 will only get more popular–on a small scale, but still more popular.
And so we won’t be shocked when breast enhancement in 2018 ends up looking a lot like breast enhancement in 2017: generally successful and popular.
